MMMB ! MMMMB ! MMMMB !

The throaty growl of the digital alarm clock, sitting by itself on the wooden nightstand, was trying its best to do its job:

Wake up whoever was in the room, and get them up and awake in time for whatever urgent task or appointment they had set for that morning ( because, as we all know, this unyieldingly strict world we live in insists on making sure that every important and noteworthy thing you have to do in life is always scheduled for the morning. Early in the morning, just to make it that much worse ).

It had been primed to go off at such a time: 7:55am ( 9:55am, for the next biggest mainland city of San Francsisco ) before the sun was fully up. The sky was mostly still black, as was the ocean but on the horizon, a band of orange had appeared, silthouteing the occasionally punctured cloud cover, as another morning stubbornly began to manifest itself over Oahu.

MMB ! MMMB ! MMMB !

Between the insistent blaring of the alarm, and the increasing light outside, there was no question that morning was here. The occupants of the room should've been reacting to one or both of those by now, at least beginning to awaken, let alone actually get out of bed. Nobody ( except for the most jumpy, or those who realized/ were reminded that they had to be somewhere right then ) ever just lept out of bed like a shot as soon as they woke up. They would, though, probbably begin to move when their alarms sounded as loudly as this one was. Especially more than once.

MMMM-

With one iron fist, Junior Reigns's palm slapped down forcefully on the clock, silencing it.

Aside from his hand, though, the rest of him hardly moved. Instead, he stayed where he was, lying haphazardly on his right side, partially covered by the sheets.

With Tani Rey's arms draped over him, and the rest of her pressed against his back. She shifted slightly, as the last of the alarm's wails died away, and muttered something random and unintellgible about coffee, but otherwise remained as unmoving as her companion was.

Neither of them was close to getting out of bed yet.

" Steve! Where are you ?! "

Danno's frustrated shout pretty much came out of the blue, except that Steve had been waiting for it. Danno had been unusually quiet after he'd arrived at the hollow carcass that was their yet-to-be restaruant, which wasn't like him at all.

Standing in what would eventually be the kitchen, Steve had been busily comparing paint strips against one another, (trying to decide between tan, or an off white), . It was delicate, demanding work, and while he had secretly been counting down the seconds till his parter in crimefighting ( and this somewhat-dodgy-buisness endevour ) would launch into his usual stream of nitpicking, and grumbling, he'd hoped he'd at least get to finish it without getting interuppted.

Evidently not, though.

Rubbing the sides of his head in a vain attempt to reduce his rising sense of annoyance, Steve replied, as calmy as he could, while still holding the strips up:

" Back here, Danno ! What's the matter now ? "

" Don't ' What's the matter now ' me ! This is important ! "

What a crab. But, he knows that. I told him so once. Maybe I should again.

" Well, if its so important, then come and tell me what it is ! Maybe then I can help out. "

Steve could help but smirk as he said it, well aware of how irritated Danno would be. The New Jersey man was predictably easy to provoke, and Steve knew just how to press his buttons.

It was just too easy.

" Steve ! We need to sweep up some of the dust out here before we can get the guys in here to get to work ! I wany my place to look presentable ! "

" Its not even open yet ! ", Steve informed him. " Of course it'll be dusty ! You're being fussier than than usual, and that's saying something ! "

" Not the point ! I want to set an example here: Every day begins with cleanliness, Steve, and that goes double here ! Now come on ! "

It was tempting, Steve realized, to reply with something snarky, and continue to ignore Danno. He was being ridiculous, after all: Why bother doing any cleaning at all, when it'd all get ruined anyway when the day's work began ?

He could, on the other hand, still lend a hand anyway. That would be the right thing to do.

But, where's the fun in that?

" Have fun, Danno ! You've got this ! Its only dust, right ? "

The borderline enraged shout from outside put a smile on Steve's face